An article caught my attention today by Andrew Vandamme “owning own home doesn’t make you rich: owning someone else’s does”. I’m talking about real estate investments. Owning your own home and living in it might not bring you the wealth you desire, but business owners and landlords tend to be about four times as wealthy as the average American. Renters in the United States tend to have about an eighth as much wealth as the average American. [Read more…]
Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make but maintaining a high value is sometimes a little foreign to homeowners. The last thing you want to do is ruin or decrease your home’s value but many homeowners are doing so without even knowing it.
Here are 10 of the most common ways people ruin their home’s value.
For those of us with furry family members in the home, we know that they can add to the cleaning needs inside. It can be extra frustrating if you’re trying to sell your home at the same time.
One of the most common and routine things we clean up after out animals is hair ( unless you have a hypo allergenic breed). Pet hair can work its way into carpet and upholstery and be pretty stubborn to remove. Some pets shed so much you wonder how there is any hair left on their body. One of the best ways to keep hair out of the carpet and upholstery is to help reduce the amount of shedding. Here are some things you can do to keep the hair going into your soft surfaces to a minimum. (Tips from the pros) [Read more…]
You’ve toyed with the idea of buying a furnished home or even renting one but you’re either arguing with yourself or maybe a partner or spouse about whether that’s really a good idea or not? Here are three great reasons to consider buying a furnished house, especially in Hawaii.
There are so many factors that go into putting your home on the market. Everyone can agree that the quicker you sell your home the better right? One of the best ways to get your home sold quickly is to get the word out about your home. The more people that know your home is available the better because it will enable you to find that perfect buyer to fall in love and deem your home the perfect home for them. [Read more…]
Here we are, headed straight into Fall! Are you ready? Well ready or not, we’re here but that doesn’t mean we should stop all real estate purchases. Actually now is a great time to buy since most of the competition is off the table. Kids are back at school and people are now focusing for the Fall and Winter so it’s a great time to be looking at homes. You can do it a little leisurely right now, as well. The frantic buying season is over but that doesn’t mean there is less inventory either. People have to buy and sell all year and it may be a perfect time. So with that being said, here is my top buying advice for this year so far. [Read more…]
No, 2018 is certainly not over, but if you’re considering selling in the next couple months, it helps to do a little research so you get the best price for your property and have prepared the home right. Here’s the top-selling tips for 2018 so far… [Read more…]
Home inspections are important but how important are they when buying a condo? The siding, roof and general frame of the property is all covered by the Home Owners Association, right? They can take care of that…. However, would you buy a lemon car that had mounds of problems even if the dealership promised to repair them? Probably not. This is why having an inspection of the condo AND the association is so vital to your purchase. [Read more…]
If you’re thinking about improving your home, remodeling, or doing some renovations it’s important to get a lot of information beforehand so that you can plan, prepare, and budget accordingly. We’ve undertaken a few renovations over the years and while I’m not an expert, I can definitely appreciate advice and tips from those that of been there before or constantly do it as in real estate investors or flippers. Here are some of the 10 best home improvement tips from the experts. [Read more…]
To be honest, not much. Prices in the Contra Costa Valley in San Ramon Valley have skyrocketed over the last 10 years and at the moment you can’t buy anything for less than $500,000. Let me rephrase that, you can’t buy anything for less than $650,000, and even then you’re looking at condos and townhouses.
This isn’t to say that this area is unaffordable because homes sit on the market for typically less than 30 days, so people are buying but it’s all relative. The cost of living might be a little bit more but so are wages and salaries around our area. To give you an idea of what homes are going for these days, here are some of the lowest-priced homes to some of the highest priced homes in San Ramon. [Read more…]